Past or present tense?
If you have made it to
Cursed, having read the first three
novels in my Henning Juul series (Burned,
Pierced, Scarred) you may have noticed a change in the fourth instalment in
the series.
Know what it is?
No?
Well, let me tell you.
I'm always looking for
ways to improve as an author, and that means experimenting a whole lot. The
very first draft of Burned, the first
book, was written in first person perspective, but my editor wanted me to
change that, so I did. They made me change a bunch of other things as well, but
that's another story.
Burned is written in the present tense, and the reason for that is that I just
liked it when I first started writing the story. So it stuck with me until I
was finished. And because I had written the first novel that way, it wrote the
second and third one that way, too. I liked how close you get to the story when
you're reading something that sort of takes place right then and there. That's
certainly how it feels, right, when you read it? You are part of the journey
somehow, you're sitting on the shoulder of the narrator, experiencing things
that very second, with the characters in the story.
A little side note
here: After I wrote the first three Henning Juul novels, I had a bit of time
before the deadline for the fourth one was due, so I decided to finish another
project I had been working on for quite some time, a dark fantasy young adult
thriller called The Evil Legacy. That
one I wrote in the first person present tense, and I had so much fun going back
to that kind of narrative, so when the time came to go back to Cursed, I felt like having some more
fun, to experiment some more. Besides, I had four novels under my belt. I knew
a bit more about storytelling at that point.
So I decided to change
again. To the third person past tense perspective this time. Again, I was
trying to improve, to push myself, and that meant getting out of my comfort
zone.
It took me a while to
get used to that way of telling a story, but I found the exercise helpful and
rewarding in the sense that I felt more like a storyteller doing it that way,
with the bird's eye view on everything. I'm in complete control, and you, as a
reader, just have to go along for the ride and let me guide you through the
story. I disclose to you just the details I want you to know at that particular
point in the story.
Writers usually stick
to the way they're most comfortable with, which is perfectly fine, of course.
But isn't it funny how some readers just can't read a story that's told in the
present tense, while others absolutely adore it? I actually had one editor
assigned to me who was so opposed to stories told in the first tense that he
couldn't bring himself to work with me in the end.
Books.
What a wonderful
invention.
What it comes down to,
I guess, is just taste. There are no "best ways" to write, or "best
ways" to read, we just pick and choose what we like the most.
Me?
I like all kinds. I'm
in love with stories, whether they
are told in the first or the third person, whether they are told in the past or
the present tense, whether they feature a male or a female protagonist, whether
it's set in Oslo or Orlando, or if it's raining or scorching hot, as long as
the narrative makes me feel
something, and think. That's most the important thing. To me.
What are your
preferences, and why? Would love to hear your thoughts.
T : @EngerThomas
About the Author
Thomas Enger (b. 1973) is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication. Burned is the first in a series of 5 books about the journalist Henning Juul, which delves into the depths of Oslo's underbelly, skewering the corridors of dirty politics and nailing the fast-moving world of 24-hour news. Rights to the series have been sold to 26 countries to date. In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult). Enger also composes music and he lives in Oslo.
T : @EngerThomas
